Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $7.72-7.77 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.75. The company issued revenue guidance of $63.6-64.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $64.14 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 7.720-7.770 EPS.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $101.88. 10,180,978 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,562,252. The firm has a market cap of $258.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.60 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $112.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.84.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 37.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.93.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.